Terminals are typically crimped onto wires by means of a conventional crimping press having an anvil for supporting the electrical terminal and a die that is movable toward and away from the anvil for effecting the crimp. In operation, a terminal is placed on the anvil, an end of a wire is inserted into the ferrule or barrel of the terminal, and the die is caused to move toward the anvil to the limit of the stroke of the press, thereby crimping the terminal onto the wire. The die is then retracted to its starting point.
In order to obtain a satisfactory crimped connection, the "crimp height" of the terminal must be closely controlled. The crimp height of a terminal is a measure of height or maximum vertical dimension of a given portion of the terminal after crimping. Ordinarily, if a terminal is not crimped to the correct crimp height for the particular terminal and wire combination, an unsatisfactory crimped connection will result. A crimp height variation is not in and of itself the cause of a defective crimp connection, but rather, is indicative of another factor which causes the poor connection. Such factors include using the wrong terminal or wire size, missing strands of wire, wrong wire type, and incorrect stripping of insulation. Since such defective crimped connections frequently have the appearance of high quality crimped connections, it is difficult to identify these defects so that timely corrective action may be taken.
A simple non-destructive means of detecting such defective crimped connections by accurately measuring crimp height during the crimping process is disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 266,977, filed Nov. 4, 1988 which is incorporated by reference as though set forth verbatim herein.
What is needed is an apparatus and method of use thereof of utilizing these teachings in an automated environment to fine adjust elements of the crimping machine, during operation, to maintain the quality of the crimp within allowable limits. The present invention accomplishes this by collecting operational data during production, analyzing the data, and adjusting appropriate machine elements to correct any existing or anticipated out of tolerance condition.